Overhead-carrier system



F. T. BENNINGTON.

OVERHEAD CARRIER SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED 001,11. 1920.

Pnt nted May 31, 19 21.

3 SHEEI SSHEET 1.

Elna/eras? E. T. BENNINGTON. OVERHEAD CARRIER'SYSTEML APPLICATION Hub OCT. n. 1920.

Patented! May 311, 19211.

'lpswmmo 3 SHEEISSHEET tit EARL BENNINGTON, OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS, OHIO.

OVERHEAD-CARRIER SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 31, 1921.

Application filed October 11, 1920. Serial No. 416,149.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL T. BENNINGTON, a citizen of the United' States, residing at Colonial Heights, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Overhead-Carrier Systems, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to carrier systems for electrically driven carriers or trolleys, and has especial reference to overhead systems of the monorail type.

The principal object of the invention is to provide certain improvements which prevent the carrier running ofi an open track at a switch or cross-over, or from running at full speed a ainst a bumper at the open end of the trac so that a carrier would not otherwise be brought to a full stop.

The invention may be briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction, and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the ap pended claims.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein I have shown an embodiment of the invention which operates with high efficiency, Figure 1 is a plan View partly diagrammatic, showing my invention applied to a three-way switch of an overhead monorail system; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view substantially along the line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, and showing some of the details preferably employed; ig. 3 is a sectional View substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing my invention applied to a two-way switch.

In the-drawings 10 of Fig. 1 may be regarded as the main rail or track of an overhead monorail system, and 11, 12 and 13 three branch track-rails, to any of which a carrier may travel from the track 10 across connect the rails 10 and 11 when the switch is in its mid position shown, the rail 17 to connect the rails 10 and 12 when the switch is moved to its right hand position as viewed in Fig. 1, and the switch rail 18 to connect the rails 10 and 13 when the switch is moved to its left hand position.

The track rails 10, 11, 12 and 13 may be supported by any suitable form of hangers from the ceiling, or any suitable overhead structure, one of the hangers next to the switch being shown at 19 in Figs. 2 and 3, and the switch rails 16, 17 and 18 will be supported from the sliding switch frame 15 at a suitable distance below the switch frame and on the level of the tracks 10, 11, 12 and 13, by suitable hangers, one of which is shown at 20 in Fig. 2.

The motor or motors of each carrier are energized, that is to say, current is conveyed to andfrom the motor or motors by a pair of trolley wires paralleling each track rail, including the switch rails. These trolley wires which are located above and to each side of the cor-responding track section may be supported by any suitable hangers or trolley wire supports such as indicated at 21 in Figs. 2 and 3. The trolley wires paralleling the main track or rail 10 are deslg nated 22 and those paralleling the tracks 11, 12 and 13 and the switch rails 16, 17 and 18 are designated respectively 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28.

Coming now to the features which more directly concernmy invention, it w1ll be observed that insulators 29 are inserted a suitable distance from the switch in the trolley wires 23, 24 and 25 parallelingthe branch tracks 11, 12 and 13. The portlons of these trolley wires between these lnsulators and the switch, and here designated 23, 24 and 25*, are normally dead sections to which no current is directly supplied by feeders. Ad

ditionally I provide at the switch ends of the trolley Wires 22, 23, 24 and 25, switch contacts preferably sprlng contacts 30, and

, at opposite ends of the trolley wires 26, 27

and 28 I provide spring contacts 31 which are so disposed that when the switch 18 1n its mid position so as to connect rail 10 and rail 11 as shown in Fig. 1, the trolley wires 22 along rail 10 are electrically connected to trolley wires 26 along switch rail 16, and the latter are electrically connected to the normally dead trolley wires 23 along the rail 11, and when the switch is moved to its right hand position the trolley wiresv 22 along rail 10 are electrically connected to the trolley wires 27 along switch rail 17 and the latter are electrically connected to the normally dead trolley wire sections 24 along rail 12, and when the switch is moved to its left hand position, trolley wires 22 along rail 10 are electrically connected to trolley wires 28 along switch rail 18, and the latter are electrically connected to the normally dead trolley wire sections 25 along rail 13.

Thus it will be seen that only one set of normally dead trolley wire sections along the rails 11, 12 and 13 can be energized at one time, that set which isenergized being the set along the rail which is connected by one of the switch rails 16, 17 or 18 to the main rail 10. The insulators may be located various distances from the switch, the selected distance being that best suited for the conditions met in any particular installation.

It will be seen therefore, that when the switch is set to connect the main rail 10 to any one of the three branch tracks 11,12 or 13, the carrier can pass freely in either direction between the main track '10 and that particular branch track, but should a carrier approach the switch along either of the other branch tracks, as soon as the trolleys of the carrier pass the insulators 29 the motor or motors will be deenergized and the 1 carrier would therefore ordinarily come to a stop before reaching the end of the rail.

Generally in overhead monorail systems so called bumpers are provided at the switch ends of the branch tracks to prevent the carriers running off the open ends of the rails, and usually suitable provision is made for lifting the bumper of a branch track when the switch is shifted to connect that branch track to the main track.- I contemplate employing bumpers for this purpose, and in Figs. 2 and'3 I have shown such a bumper at 32, this bumper being pivoted at 33 to the hanger 19 and having feet 32 which straddle the upper part of the rail and rest .down on the lower flange of the rail when the rail is open at the switch. In this instance the inner end of the bumper is ada ted to be engaged by a cam 34 carried y or outer end of the bumper from the rail when the switch is moved to a position such as to connect the rail to the main rail on the opposite side of the switch. As I am not claiming any detail features of this bumper in this application, further description of the same will not be necessary, but it will be understood that one of these bumpers will be provided for each branch track.

It will be seen therefore, that with my improvements above described, if the system is provided with bumpers such as herein referred to, or bumpers of any other type located at the ends of the branch rails at the switch, the carrier will not strike a bumper at full speed or at any considerable speed even if the carrier should not be brought to a complete stop before ,the bumper or end of the rail is reached, since the motor or motors would be denergized on passing the insulators 29 in the trolley wires paralleling such rail.

To show the adaptability of my invention for switches other than a three-way switch such as illustrated in Fig. 1, I have, in Fig. 4, shown my invention applied to a two-way switch. For convenience I have in this instance simply omitted the branch rail 12 and the switch rail 17 with their associated trolley wires. and have shortened the stationary switch frame and the sliding switch frame for in this instance the sliding switch frame need have only one-half the range of movement of the sliding frame of Fig. 1. In Fig. 4 the parts are given reference characters which are applied to the corresponding parts of Fig. 1. and as the details have been fully explained in connection with 1. further explanation of the corresponding parts of Fig. 4 is unnecessary.

lVhere conditions do not permit the insulator 29 to be located a sufficient distance from the switch to permit the carriers to come to a complete stop before reaching the switch or the-bumpers through the mere deenergization of the driving motor or motors, I propose to provide an additional safeguard in the nature of means for causing a dynamic braking action in the motor or motors. This feature will be useful also when the rails leading to the'switch are on a downward inclination.

. Under such circumstances, and for the purpose. of producing thisJdynamic braking action, I provide means for connecting together the dead or isolated sections of the trolley wire along each open rail, and I prefer to accomplish this by simply the movement of the movable switch frame, as illustrated in Fig. 4. As here illustrated, the movable switch frame is provided with a pair of contacts 35 connected or bridged by a resistance or other suitable conductor 36,

and these parts are so disposed that when the switch is in a position such as to connect the track 10 to the track 11, the contacts 35 will engage the contacts 30 at the switch ends of the trolley wire sections 25 and when the switch has been shifted so as to connect the track 10 and the branch track 13 through the switch rail 17, the contacts 35 engage the contacts 30 at the switch end of the trolley wire sections 23 Therefore, the dead trolley wire sections corresponding to each open branch rail are short circuited through the conductor 36, and since no current is supplied to these trolley sections, as soon as the carrier reaches a point such that the trolley wheels pass the corresponding insulators 29, the motor of the carrier is temporarily converted to a generator generating an E. M. F. and causing a dynamic braking action. This will bring the carrier to a rest more quickly than would be the case if no brake were applied to the carrier.

It will be apparent that this short circuiting feature embodying either a resistance or a low resistance conductor can be applied in a similar fashion to a three-way switch such as illustratedin Fig. 1, or to a switch adapted to accomodate any number of branch rails so as to connect or short circuit the pairs of dead trolley wire sections extending along each open branch rail when the switch is in any of its definite operating positions.

The conductor 36 will be in the form of a resistance whenever thecarriers are equipped with shunt motors, as is generally the case, but in the event series motors are employed, the conductor 36 will be a short circuiting conductor of low resistance. If compound wound motors are employed the ohmic resistance of the conductor will depend on the degree of compounding.

Above I have described my invention in its application to a switch and to portions of the rails adjacent thereto, but my invention has utility also in what is generally termed a cross-over, to permit the trolley to be conveyed from one section of a track to another across a crossing track, but as the cross-over is in effect a switch, the term switch is used in this case in the broad even more trolley wires along the several rails.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a considerable factor of safety by the provision of safe-guards which will bring the 3 carrier to a stop and prevent its running off an open rail or striking with any consi-dierable force a bumper at the end of the rai Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a carrier system, a movable switch member having a switch rail, stationary rails on opposite sides of the switch member and adapted to be connected by the switch rail, trolley wires extending along the rails, the trolley wire along the rail on one side of the switch having a section next to the switch normally electrically disconnected from the remainder of the trolley wire, and means whereby said normally electrically disconnected section of the trolley wire may be supplied with current when the switch is in a position such that the switch rail connects the rails on opposite sides of the switch.

2. In a carrier system, a movable switch member having a switch rail, stationary rails on opposite sides of the switch member and adapted to be connected by the switch rail, trolley wires extending along the rails, the trolley wire along the rail on one side of the switch having a section next to the switch normally electrically disconnected from the remainder of the trolley wire, and means actuated by the movement of the switch for causing the normally disconnected section of the trolley wire to become energized or supplied with current.

3. In a carrier system, a movable switch member having a switch rail, stationary rails on opposite sides of the switch member and adapted to be connected by the switch rail, trolley wires extending along the rails, the trolley wire along the rail on one slde of the switch having a section next to the switchelectrically disconnected from the remainder of the trolley wire, and means whereby said electrically isolated section of the trolley wire may be supplied with current across the trolley wire of the switch from the trolley wire along the rail on the opposite side of the switch.

4. In an overhead carrier system, a movable switch member having a rail, a pair of trolley wires extending along the same, a pair of rails on opposite sides of the switch and adapted to be connected by the switch rail, a pair of trolley wires extending along each of said rails on opposite sides of the switch, the trolley wires along the rail on one side of the switch having next to the latter sections electrically isolated from the remainder of said trolley wires, and contactsby which said electrically isolated sections are electrically connected to the trolley wires along the rail on thew opposite side of the switch when the switchis in a position such that said switch rail connects the rails on opposite sides of the switch.

5. In an overhead carrier system, a movable switch member having a plurality of switch rails, stationary rails on opposite sides ofthe switch, a trolley wire extending along each stationary rail and each switch rail, the trolley wires on one side of the switch havin sections leading up to the switch electr1cally isolated from the renected by a switch rail to the rail on the opposite side of the switch.

6. In an overhead carrier system, a switch having a plurality of switch rails, a stationary main rail on one side of the switch, stationary branch rails on the opposite side, a pair of trolley wires extending along each rail including the switch rails, the trolley wires along the branch rails having sections next to the switch electrically isolated from the remainder of the wires, and contacts closed by the movement of the switch for electrically connecting the isolated sections of any branch rail to the trolley wires of the main rail on the opposite side of the switch when the switch is in a position that such branch rail is connected by one of the switch rails to the main rail.

7. In an overhead carrier system for elec trically operated carriers, a movable switch member having a switch rail, a pair of stationary rails on opposite sides of the switch and adapted to be connected by the switch rail, trolley wires extending along all said rails including the switch rail, the trolley wire of the stationary rail on one side of the switch having a section next to the switch electrically isolated from the remainder, said isolated section being deenergized when the end of the corresponding rail is open at the switch, and electrical contacts closed by the movement of the switch for causing said isolated section to be energized only when the end of the correspondmg rail 1s connected by the switch rail to the rail on the opposite side of the switch.

8. In an overhead carrier system, a switch shaving rails on opposite sides'of the switch adapted "to be connected by a switch rail, trolley wires extending along all said rails, the trolley wires along the rail on one side of the switch having normally dead or deenergized sections next to the switch, and means for electrically connecting said sections when the switch is me position such that the end of said rail is open at the switch.

9. In an overhead carrier system for electrically operated carriers, a switch having a switch rail, stationary rails on opposite. sides thereof adapted to be connected by the switch rail, trolley wires, along the rail on one side of the switch having normally dead or deenergized sections next to the switch, and means carried by the switch for electrically connecting said dead or denergized sections when the switch is in a position such that the corresponding rail is open at the switch.

10. In an overhead carrier system for electrically operated carrierspa switch having switch rails, rails on opposite sides of the switch adapted to be connected by said switch rails when the switch is in different position, trolley wires extending along said rails, the trolley wires along the rails on one side of the switch having next to the switch normally deenergized or dead sections, and means operated by the switch for electrically connecting said dead or deenergized sections of the trolley wires along each open rail.

In testimony where0f,l hereunto afiix my signature.

EARL T. BENNINGTON. 

